The man accused of fatally shooting the CEO of UnitedHealthcare pleaded not guilty Monday to murder and terrorism charges as his attorney argued that statements from the New York mayor would make him hard to get a fair trial.
Luigi Mangione, 26, was stunned and seated in a Manhattan courtroom when he leaned over to a microphone to enter his plea. The Manhattan district attorney formally charged him last week with multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism, in a state case that will run parallel to his federal prosecution.
His first appearance in a New York state trial court was marred by federal prosecutors bringing their own charges over the shooting. The federal charges could carry the death penalty, while the maximum sentence for the state charges is life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors have said the two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state charges expected to go to trial first.
One of Mangione's lawyers told a judge that government officials, including New York Mayor Eric Adams, have turned Mangione into a political pawn, robbing him of his rights as a defendant and tainting the jury pool. .
“I am very concerned about my client's right to a fair trial,” said Karen Friedman Agnifilo.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed four new charges against Luigi Mangione, the killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, including a count of murder that could carry the death penalty.
The city's mayor and police chief stood by last Thursday as Mangione was flown to a Manhattan helicopter and slowly taken up a pier after being extradited from Pennsylvania.
“I wanted to look him in the eye and say you committed this act of terrorism in my city – the city that New Yorkers love,” the mayor told the station. Local TV.
Friedman Agnifilo has accused federal and state prosecutors of advancing conflicting legal theories, saying their approach is confusing and highly unusual. “He's being treated like a human pingpong ball between warring jurisdictions here,” she said Monday.
State trial court Judge Gregory Carro responded that he has little control over what happens outside the courtroom, but said he can guarantee Mangione will receive a fair trial.
Authorities say Mangione shot Brian Thompson as he walked to an investor conference in midtown Manhattan on the morning of December 4th.
Mangione was arrested in a Pennsylvania McDonald's after a five-day investigation, carrying a gun that matched the one used in the shooting and a fake ID, police said. He also carried a notebook expressing hostility toward the health insurance industry and especially wealthy executives, according to federal prosecutors.
The killing aimed to 'spark terror': district attorney
At a press conference announcing the state's charges last week, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the use of the terrorism statute reflected the seriousness of the “terrifying, well-planned and targeted murder that intended to cause panic and attention and fear. “
“In the most basic terms, this was a killing intended to incite terror,” he said.
Mangione is being held in a Brooklyn federal prison along with several other high-profile defendants, including Sean (Diddy) Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried.
Outside the courthouse where Mangione appeared Monday, a few dozen supporters chanted, “Free Luigi,” over the sound of a trumpet.
Natalie Monarrez, a 55-year-old Staten Island resident, said she joined the show because she lost both her mother and her life savings to denied insurance claims.
“As true as it was, it disrupted the conversation we need to address this issue,” she said of the shooting. “Enough is enough, people are tired.”
An Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland family, Mangione seemed to cut himself off from family and friends in recent months. He frequently posted in online forums about his struggles with back pain. He was never a UnitedHealthcare client, according to the insurer.
Thompson, a married father of two high school students, had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance arm in 2021.
The killing has prompted some to express their displeasure with US health insurers, with Mangione standing in for frustrations over denials of coverage and huge medical bills. It has also sent shockwaves through the corporate world, shaking up executives who say they have experienced a spike in threats.
